


Collision Course

by energie_vie



Category: The Old Guard (Comics), The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Mild Language, Mutual Pining, POV Nile Freeman, Post-Movie: The Old Guard (2020), Recreational Drug Use, Slow Burn, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:13:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28216767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/energie_vie/pseuds/energie_vie
Summary: They're friends, best friends even, but it's obvious they could be so much more. However, each time they get close to crossing the threshold, someone rudely interrupts them, sending them a few squares back. Until the dam threatens to break and they no longer care whether they have an audience or not.OR: Five times Nile and Bookeralmostkiss and the one time they actually do.
Relationships: Booker | Sebastien le Livre/Nile Freeman
Comments: 19
Kudos: 76
Collections: The Old Guard Gift Exchange 2020





	Collision Course

**Author's Note:**

  * For [merlinn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/merlinn/gifts).



> Written for the 2020 TOG Gift Exchange.
> 
> It has been an absolute pleasure to take part in this event and I truly hope I'm a decent Santa :D

**1.**

It doesn't happen very often that she dreams about her family and in time Nile has learnt to be somewhat grateful for this. It's not that she doesn't miss them because she does, desperately so, but the bitter taste in her mouth and the feeling of hollowness that come afterwards are very hard to shake off. Waking up is like being plunged headfirst into ice cold water.

It's no different tonight. She needs a good couple of seconds to remember where she is, though Andy's soft snoring proves to be of invaluable aid. They're spending the night at Copley's house and she's sharing a room with Andy and Quynh. A complicated and complex mission is coming up that requires arrangements face to face. Copley had insisted they stay overnight and Nile suspects it's part generosity, part self-indulgence. He seems lonely and he also seems to enjoy their company, as chaotic and volatile as their group tends to be at times.

She grabs her phone from the nightstand and checks the time. A little past four in the morning, which means it's highly unlikely she'll fall back asleep, so she gets up quietly and tiptoes out of the room.

Copley has quite a nice house, albeit a bit too big but Nile has always had an eye for detail and a good sense of orientation, so she easily navigates the corridors in complete darkness until she gets to the kitchen. She fills a glass with water, gulps half of it in one go, refills it and then moves to the living room, letting herself fall on the couch and staring blankly ahead.

She's so lost in thought that she doesn't hear the footsteps behind her and when Booker turns on the lamp, she jumps so violently that most of the water in her glass ends up on her T-shirt.

'Jesus, Seb, do I need to hang a bell around your neck?' she mutters in mild irritation, placing the glass on the coffee table and shaking her T-shirt in a futile attempt to dry it a little.

'Hey, not my fault you had totally zoned out,' he says defensively. 'Why were you sitting in the dark?' he carries on in a half-curious, half-concerned tone.

Nile just hums absent-mindedly and shrugs. It's not really an answer, so she's not surprised when Booker presses, plopping down sideways next to ner, one leg folded under him and one arm thrown casually on the back of the couch. He's breathtaking even when he doesn't try and Nile curses her suddenly thundering heart.

'What's wrong?' he asks gently, looking straight into her eyes and it's enough to unravel her.

It's always like that with him. Whenever his voice goes soft and he looks at her like there's nothing else in the world that could capture his attention in that particular moment she simply melts.

'I dreamt about my family,' Nile says slowly, shifting on the couch to face him.

'Was it a good dream?' he asks quietly.

'I guess. My brother and I were fighting over the remote,' she snorts. 'Which used to happen quite a lot. And mom was telling us to behave or there would be no dessert.'

Booker smiles, a tinge of sadness and understanding in his eyes, as well as something else she can't really put her finger on.

'But it's not the dream in itself that's troubling you,' he continues matter-of-factly because this is how well he knows her.

'I was just thinking... In my dream he looked exactly like the last time I saw him. Except in reality he's obviously older. And I don't know what he looks like anymore,' she sighs tiredly. 'Maybe he's married, maybe he has kids. I'll never know.'

Booker doesn't say anything else. Not much to say, anyway. Instead, he pulls her into a hug, arms wrapped tightly around her. She feels him take a deep breath, as if inhaling her scent and when he pulls back an eternity later there's an unreadable expression painted across his features that Nile doesn't think she's ever seen before. He cocks his head to the left, eyes searching her face and lingering on her lips and then he swallows audibly and starts leaning towards her painfully slowly. Nile stops breathing altogether.

'And here I thought _I_ was an early bird,' Copley chuckles somewhere in the background, snapping them out of their little moment.

Booker is the first to recover and he smirks cheekily. 'That would be Nicky. Us three being awake before him is a once in a lifetime event that needs to be marked in all calendars for posterity.'

Copley chuckles again and heads for the kitchen. 'Coffee?' he asks.

'Yes, please. Black, no sugar for me and black with a spoonful of honey for Nile,' Booker says casually and smiles at her.

Nile smiles back weakly. She fucking hates Copley!

\---

**2.**

'Seb, where are we?' Nile slurs, stumbling out of the taxi.

Booker's hand shoots out to steady her, though in all honesty, his feet aren't too stable either. She had assumed that this whole immortality thing means alcohol burns faster so they can't really get drunk. Turns out that doesn't apply when you pour a constant stream of various alcoholic concoctions into your system for hours at a time. She's not complaining.

'Seb?'

'Huh?'

'You're _so_ drunk!' Nile giggles stupidly, latching herself to his right arm.

'Well, pot, meet kettle!' Booker says seriously, rolling his eyes and making her dissolve into a hysterical fit of laughter. 'What?'

'You're fucking awesome!' Nile grins and her heart skips a beat when he grins back, eyes crinkled at the corners. 'So, where are we?'

'Home,' he replies in a _duh_ kind of way, snickering when she frowns in confusion. 'We're behind the building.'

'Ooooh, right. Makes sense,' she giggles again. 'Come on, I wanna get rid of these shoes, my feet are killing me.'

'Why don't you just take them off?'

'I can handle a few more minutes but next time remind me to skip the heels.'

'Yes, ma'am,' he replies, raising his left hand to his forehead in a military salute and heading for the building entrance.

'I had fun tonight,' she smiles and winks as they're waiting for the elevator.

'So did I,' Booker smiles back.

His voice has gone soft again and his eyes are incredibly warm and when he pushes a strand of hair back in its place Nile literally swoons. God, she wants him so badly but it seems so complicated to sort her feelings out _and_ figure out where _he_ stands in all of this, so she pushes the thought aside. For now.

Booker fumbles with the key for a full minute until she tuts impatiently and snatches it out of his hand. With a little help from the last sober cells in her brain she manages to open the door, shushing him preemptively.

'We don't wanna wake them up,' Nile whispers, ushering Booker inside the flat and closing the door quietly behind her.

She bends over to take off her shoes, moaning as soon as her bare feet touch the floor and making him chuckle under his breath. The problem is they haven't turned on the light yet, so the first step she takes results in her tripping on someone else's shoes. She loses her balance and for a split second she can actually see herself hitting the floor and wonders if she'll manage to break any bones. However, she immediately finds herself upright again, Booker's hands firmly holding her waist.

'Careful,' he whispers and he's so close that she can feel his breath on her lips.

It makes her dizzy, so she puts her hands on his chest, feeling the heat radiating through his shirt. His eyes are trained on hers and Nile licks her lips slowly, tilting her head slightly to the left. She feels his breath hitch and his fingers tightening their hold and just as she starts to close the distance between them-

'Why aren't you turning on the light?' Quynh mumbles sleepily and then promptly yawns.

'We didn't wanna wake you,' Booker says, hands dropping from her waist as if burnt and Nile thinks his voice is shaking just a little bit.

Quynh shrugs in a _suit yourself_ kind of way and goes into the kitchen. 'Did you guys have fun?' she asks.

'Yeap,' Nile replies, struggling to sound cheery instead of extremely annoyed.

She reaches for the switch and turns the light on, mentally adding Quynh to her black list alongside Copley.

\---

**3.**

'I don't get it, how are we supposed to watch the meteor shower if we're building a fucking bonfire?' Nile mutters disgruntledly, passing Booker some more driftwood.

'Just between you and me, I think all four of them are weirdly nostalgic about their younger days, so to speak,' he snickers, carefully piling larger branches on top of the smaller ones at the base.

'You mean there's a high chance they're gonna decide to _sleep_ next to it too?'

'Depends on how high we get. Pun intended,' he says seriously and Nile bursts out laughing.

They're in Kefalonia, in the part of the island that's scarcely inhabited and where Nicky and Joe have a house that's literally fifty metres from the beach. Come to think of it, all of their downtime houses are on Mediterranean islands. Nile thinks it's some sort of return to their roots, though it might just be that they love balmy weather and the smell of the sea. She'll have to clarify with one of them.

'Besides,' Booker carries on, 'there's nothing stopping us from moving further away from the fire when the shower starts, we're the only people on this side of the island.' 

Nile grins excitedly. She hasn't seen a meteor shower since she was a kid and she's been ecstatic ever since she found out about this one.

'Let them skip down memory lane as merrily as they want, I'd much rather look at the stars with you,' Booker adds casually and Nile feels herself heating up and the butterflies in her stomach starting a damned riot.

She has no idea when exactly she fell in love with him. Probably somewhere between her switching to calling him Seb instead of Booker and him Nile instead of _kid_. Basically, a long time ago. There are days when she thinks it's reciprocated. There are others when she's convinced it's all in her head, though the soft voice and the gentle smile seem to be reserved only for her. It's still complicated because they have centuries ahead of them and she feels the inexplicable need to tread lightly.

'I can't wait,' she chuckles, literally bouncing up and down and making Booker smile that gentle smile of his.

Four hours later Nile is beginning to feel grateful that they have no immediate neighbours because by now someone would have definitely called the police. Not one of them is sober and it's the combination of weed and alcohol that makes them all boisterous and extremely talkative. What's even funnier is that the so-called conversations are actually monologues and she's really trying to follow them but it's extremely difficult because they're all taking place at the same time.

Joe seems to be reciting something in Greek and he's so passionate that he occasionally switches to shouting. Nicky seems to be talking to Quynh, although Quynh is actually looking at Joe and interrupting him from time to time. And then there's Andy, who's muttering in a most likely dead language and waving a lit branch around so dangerously that one of them is bound to catch fire sooner or later. Booker, on the other hand, is explaining something to her but he keeps slipping from French to Occitan and Nile doesn't have the heart to tell him he had lost her a good ten minutes ago, so she just nods and giggles every once in a while. She loves them all so much and it makes her heart swell pleasantly.

'Aaw, we love you too,' Booker smiles lopsidedly and Nile realises she's said it out loud. 

She smiles back and then looks at her watch. The shower should start in about five minutes, so she taps his wrist in some sort of impromptu signal.

Booker promptly gets up and holds out his hand to help her to her feet. She likes how her smaller one fits perfectly in his and her heart almost explodes when he doesn't let go while nudging Nicky to tell him where they're going, nor when they start walking in a random direction, away from the fire.

She's so dazed that he lets him lead and plops down in the sand without protesting when he stops all of a sudden, the fire just a glimmer in the distance.

'Hold on,' Booker stops her when she makes to lie down and Nile looks at him questioningly. 'We don't want sand in your hair now, do we?' he says seriously, taking off his T-shirt and spreading it behind her.

She stares at him, mouth slack and eyes unblinking and if she doesn't pull herself together soon she might actually start drooling. Booker lies down, eyes fixed on the night sky and Nile can't for the life of her figure out how she's supposed to be all casual about them lounging in the sand under the stars with him half-naked next to her.

'Look, I think it started. Did you see it?' he asks excitedly, so Nile lies down with her head on his T-shirt and looks up.

Within ten minutes the sky is criss-crossed by silvery streaks and she's so deliriously happy that she has to really struggle not to squeal every other second.

'So beautiful,' she murmurs instead and her pulse trebles when she feels Booker's fingers intertwining with hers.

'The most,' he whispers after a couple of moments of silence.

Something in his voice makes her turn her head towards him and her heart stutters when she finds him looking at her, eyes smouldering and a million emotions flitting across his face. There are only a few centimetres separating them and Nile feels Booker shifting almost imperceptibly, his eyes never leaving hers. She licks her lips and shifts a bit closer too and they're a fraction of a second away from-

'Guys! Guys, where are you?'

Booker sighs and Nile turns on her back with a groan, cursing Nicky and the entire universe and her fucking bad luck.

'Over here,' Booker says and is it just her or does he sound like he's about to strangle him?

'Come on, we're gonna play _Truth or Dare_ ,' Nicky says cheerfully, brandishing his torch wildly as if batting flies away.

Booker mutters something under his breath, sounding clearly irritated but does get up, once again holding his hand out to Nile. She grabs his T-shirt, shakes it to get rid of the sand and gives it to him, trying not to sigh when he pulls it over his head. Damn Nicky and his horrible timing!

\---

**4.**

_'Found them!'_ Andy's voice in her ear makes her jolt a little. _'They're in one of the back rooms at the end of the main hall. No one's hurt. Joe, Quynh, cover the exit, just in case. I'll bring them all out. Nicky, call Copley and tell him we're done in ten minutes. Nile, Book, do another sweep up. We'll regroup outside in five.'_

'Got it, boss!' Booker confirms and then turns to look at her. 'You do the ground floor, I'll go up the stairs. Meet you back here, ok?'

Nile nods curtly, watching him take the stairs two at a time and then turning on her heels and going in the opposite direction, gun at the ready. They're in an abandoned factory on the outskirts of San Francisco and they've just brought down a branch of one of the most notorious human trafficking rings in North America.

It's the sort of mission where she's the most ruthless. Normally she shoots to incapacitate because it's only fair that whoever is at the receiving end of her weapon should be held accountable for their actions and end up rotting in jail. However, when kidnappings and human exploitation are involved she loses her mercy very quickly and shoots to kill. After all, it's not like the criminals themselves have any mercy for their victims, so why should _she_ have any mercy for _them_?

She gets so caught up in her little internal rant that she gets distracted for a couple of seconds and the sound of a gun cocking at her nape makes her halt in her tracks. Fuck! It's not like she won't come back if she gets killed but that would buy the asshole precious time to make a run for it and she definitely doesn't want that.

'Drop your gun!' a nasal voice demands and Nile really doesn't have a choice but to do as he asks. 'Turn around and push it towards me.'

He doesn't look much older than twenty-five, bushy black hair and an ugly scar splitting his left cheek in half.

'You're making a big mistake,' she says slowly, lifting her hands and pushing the gun with her foot in his general direction.

'Shut up! On your knees!'

Nile sighs and gets on her knees, wondering how many bullets he'll put in her and how much of a head start he'll get before she wakes up. Or maybe he won't get any because Booker might spot him from his vantage point. The guy raises his gun and aims it towards her forehead and Nile wishes he'd just get this over with already, there's no need for useless suspense. A split second later a bullet goes through his head and he falls to the floor.

'So sloppy, darling!' Booker tuts disapprovingly, leaning on the railing and smirking cheekily.

Nile just rolls her eyes and flips him off and she's just about to open her mouth for a witty comeback when she hears four gunshots and watches Booker's limp body fall over the railing and land on the floor with a sickening crunch.

'SEB!'

 _'Nile, what's going on?'_ Joe asks frantically.

She doesn't have time to reply before she gets shot in the shoulder, so she rolls on the floor to reach her gun, ignoring the blinding pain of the bullet being expelled from her body. She kneels, aims and shoots and the raging fury coursing through her veins seems to help her focus because she only needs two shots to kill the son of a bitch.

'Seb?' she calls but there's no response, so she sprints towards him and kneels next to his body.

_'Nile? What the **fuck** is going on?'_

It's Andy this time and she should be saying something in reply, _anything_ , but Booker isn't moving, isn't breathing and she feels a surge of fear shoot through her like an electric current, from the top of her head straight to her toes.

'Seb! Wake up!' she pleads, her voice shaking terribly.

Nothing. His eyes are open but they look empty and cold as they stare blankly at the ceiling. Nile checks for a pulse and whimpers when she can't feel anything.

'Please don't leave me!' she mumbles, hands gently cupping his face. 'Please, Seb! Come back!'

Some remote part of her brain registers the voices in her ear but she literally can't process what they're saying. She doesn't care anyway because Booker still isn't moving, skin frighteningly pale and cold and Nile is really starting to panic. Her hands are frantic as they touch his face and his shoulders and at one point she grabs his tac vest and starts shaking desperately.

'Seb, come back to me, please!' she begs and she's seconds away from crying when Booker finally gasps awake.

His back arches from the floor, his hands fly to hers, encircling her wrists and he winces in pain, eyes shut tightly.

'Fucking hell, I think I broke my spine,' he grits through clenched teeth and groans loudly when bones start popping back into place.

'I thought I'd lost you,' she whimpers.

'Never,' he mutters, letting go of her wrists and straining to move to a sitting position. 'I promise!'

Nile takes a deep breath and reaches her right hand to caress his hair, letting it slide lower until it rests on his cheek. She watches Booker's breath falter and his eyes widen, flicking between _her_ eyes and her lips. Blood is pounding in her ears and all she can think about is how much she wants to taste him, so she starts leaning closer and closer until-

'Guys, what the hell happened here?' Andy's stern voice comes from somewhere behind her.

They both pull back quickly and Nile desperately fights the urge to scream in frustration. She doesn't trust her voice to speak right now, so she lets Booker explain the mess, plastering a neutral expression on her face and nodding in all the right places. In her head, though, she's strangling Andy without a hint of remorse.

\---

**5.**

Booker dancing is truly a sight to behold, Nile thinks a bit grudgingly while struggling not to openly ogle him. In all fairness, he could be doing nothing at all and she'd still stare at him longingly. Tonight, though, there's something about the flashing neon lights and his dark blue shirt and his spiky hair that makes her want to slam him against the nearest available surface and kiss the air away from his lungs. God, she's _so_ far gone and she's ninety-nine percent sure he is too. However, that one little percent left is still holding both of them back and it only serves to make the anticipation even more painful.

They can't really hear each other over the loud music and the booming bass, so Booker carelessly splays a hand on her lower back to pull her close, tilting his head to bring his lips to her ear.

'Wanna go grab another drink?' he asks and his breath on her neck makes her shiver slightly.

He must have felt it too because his fingers twitch and dig into her skin, making her burn from the inside. When he pulls back to look at her, Nile just nods, grabbing his hand and weaving her way through the crowd in the direction of the bar.

The club is packed and there are quite a few people waiting in line for a refill, so she decides to take a quick detour to the restroom. Of course it's crowded too, so by the time she returns to the bar, Booker is not where she'd left him. Instead, he's leaning against the counter, probably waiting for their drinks. She takes one step in his direction and then stops all of a sudden when she sees a pretty redhead lean into his space to whisper in his ear, one hand placed boldly on his biceps.

Nile feels like she's been punched in the gut and her feet seem to be stuck to the floor because as much as she wants to turn around and literally run away, all she can do is watch helplessly as Booker smiles and winks at the woman, saying something that makes her throw her head back in laughter. Fuck, this hurts like hell and she finally manages to gather her bearings. She wheels around abruptly, intent on getting out of the club _right now_ and runs directly into someone's chest.

'Sorry,' she mutters when she takes a step back.

'No worries, doll,' the guy drawls, eyeing her hungrily. 'Are you in a hurry?'

'Yeah, actually,' Nile replies curtly, trying to sidestep him but he just mirrors her move.

'Oh, come on, just give me five minutes of your time,' he carries on and the words themselves are polite enough; it's the demanding tone and the sly leer that piss her off.

'No, thank you,' she says coldly.

She tries to sidestep him again and when he blocks her path and daringly puts a hand on her hip, she rolls her eyes irritatedly and punches him squarely in the face. She sneers delightedly when she sees him holding his nose, blood dripping through his fingers.

'Fucking asshole!' Nile spits, shoving him out of her way and ignoring the curious and slightly admiring looks from the people around her who've most likely witnessed the entire scene.

Once outside she stops for a moment and takes a deep breath, trying to calm her shaking hands and her hammering heart, before rounding the corner of the building and letting out a string of profanities in all the languages she knows.

'Nile!'

She sighs tiredly and leans against the wall, waiting for Booker to catch up to her.

'Where's my drink?' she laughs weakly.

'What happened?' he asks, completely ignoring her lame attempt at a joke.

'Just some asshole getting handsy,' she shrugs.

Booker's eyes narrow dangerously and his jaw clenches. She's seen him angry before, hands balled into fists and voice shaking with rage but somehow he looks different this time, as if coldly plotting the perfect murder.

'It's by no means a slight to your ability to take care of yourself,' he all but growls, 'but _please_ say the word so that I can go dismantle him!'

Nile waves her hand dismissively, although she's secretly thrilled about his reaction. Until she remembers the redhead and it feels like someone's poured a bucket of cold water over her head.

'Shouldn't you be entertaining your new friend?' she asks in what she hopes is a nonchalant way.

'What new friend?'

Damn it, she's dug herself into a hole and now she _has_ to plow ahead.

'The redhead at the bar.'

'Oh, god!' he whines, dragging his hand over his face. 'I was _this_ close to killing myself with a corkscrew.'

'What do you mean?'

'I mean I'm a fucking magnet for chicks who can't take no for an answer,' Booker laughs humourlessly. 

'So.. not interested?' Nile asks, cringing internally at her hopeful tone.

'Not in the slightest,' he replies softly. 'My heart is set on something else.'

His voice has dropped at least an octave and he's biting his lip, eyes zeroed in on hers. Nile feels her pulse go through the roof and she actually whimpers when Booker closes in on her, hands splayed against the wall on either side of her head. His mere presence is absolutely intoxicating and it makes her light-headed.

'Seb..' she whispers.

'Yes?' he asks quietly, lips a millimetre away from hers and Nile swallows and closes her eyes.

'There you are! I've been looking all over for you,' Joe exclaims triumphantly, slurring all the words.

'Fucking hell!' Booker mutters under his breath, taking a step back.

Nile for her part lets her head fall backwards until it hits the wall behind her and sighs exasperatedly.

'What are you guys doing out here?' Joe asks, genuinely curious.

'We came for a smoke,' she replies, taking a step towards Booker and pulling out the pack of cigarettes from his back pocket.

She feels him jump a little and it makes her chuckle, so she winks at him as she lights a cigarette, passing back the pack and the lighter.

'What's up?' Booker asks Joe, lighting a cigarette of his own.

'We wanna do shots,' Joe grins and extends his hand.

Booker gives him a cigarette and flicks the lighter to light it for him. He then looks longingly at Nile, smiling almost defeatedly. Nile shrugs and smiles back. She's gotten used to their fucked up timing by now. Also, Joe's definitely gonna get it for this.

\---

**+1**

She should have known that game nights with this competitive lot are definitely not a good idea. Five pairs of eyes had sparkled in utter excitement when she had suggested during breakfast that they spend the night playing board games. Andy had offered to get the alcohol, Booker had promised to get his hands on some weed and Joe had volunteered to provide the board games. In hindsight, their enthusiasm should have been a big red flag. Nile had missed it entirely.

Now she's convinced that the sole reason they had all readily agreed to her idea was the knowledge that they'd have an excuse to stab one another. Which has already happened, twice. The fact that they're all completely wasted isn't really helping either. The third time someone gets wounded she literally confiscates all weapons and places them on the kitchen counter, completely out of reach. 

'You're no fun, kid,' Andy grumbles while pulling a knife from her boot.

'Do you really wanna scrub the floor clean afterwards? There's already blood on the table and you've ruined this pack of cards,' Nile crosses her arms, staring defiantly at her.

'He cheated!' Andy exclaims heatedly, scowling and pointing her finger at Nicky.

'No, I didn't! You just suck at this game,' he retorts, making Andy gasp indignantly.

'Guys, enough! Weapons on the counter and we'll play something else,' she raises her tone, resorting to her long forgotten babysitting skills.

'But I was winning,' Quynh whines unhappily.

'And that's why you get to choose the next game,' Nile says, chuckling when Quynh claps excitedly.

She grabs the paper towels and struggles to clean the table as best as she can.

'This will have to do,' she mutters once she's finished. 'Now, Andy, Nicky, kiss and make up and then please pour another round of shots. Seb, sweetie, could you please roll another one? Joe, what other games do we have?'

To her surprise, and, quite frankly, delight, there's not a single sound of protest from the guys. Joe gets up to bring the rest of the board games from the living room. Quynh is squirming restlessly in her seat, most likely eager to choose what they're going to play next. Andy and Nicky scowl at each other for a couple of seconds before they both burst out laughing like idiots and then they start refilling the shots. And Booker...

Booker is gazing at her as if she were a mythical creature. The look on his face is a mix of awe, fascination and.. is that pride? He's smiling his soft smile, eyes crinkled at the corners and so unbearably warm that it makes her breath catch in her throat. A million unsaid things pass between them and it takes the thud of the games being dropped on the table to snap her back to the present.

'Oohh, _Monopoly_ , no question about it,' Quynh proclaims.

'Hold on, first things first,' Andy says, lifting her shot. 'Cheers, kid. Here's to your bossy side.'

Nile snorts, downs her shot and starts splitting the money between the six of them. One hour later, she's the first to go bankrupt and she thinks there are several reasons that could account for this outcome. First of all, _Monopoly_ is not really made for six players. Second, she's very much stoned. Third and the most relevant, she sucks at negotiating and managing finances. Basically, the combination between the three was bound to lead to her spectacular loss.

'I fucking hate _Monopoly_!' she grumbles dispassionately, getting up from the table to empty the ashtray.

'It's ok, darling, you can be my financial advisor,' Booker chuckles.

'Seb, I went bankrupt,' she enunciates slowly. 'I don't think that's a good idea.'

'My cheerleader, then,' he grins.

'Sweetheart, I'll be whatever you want me to be,' she says without really thinking, placing the now empty ashtray on the table and returning to the sink to fill a glass with water.

The silence that follows is almost deafening. Nile replays the exchange in her head, wincing a bit at the ambiguity of her last sentence and slowly turns around. There are four almost identical smirks directed at her, coupled with four pairs of eyes twinkling mischievously. Then there's the loud scrape of a chair being pushed forcefully back and Booker is crossing the room in three large strides, a determined look on his face.

His body all but crashes into hers, his hands cup both her cheeks and when he smashes his mouth against hers, Nile's eyes close involuntarily and she lets out a soft moan. His lips are so, so soft and he tastes like vodka and tobacco and something extraordinarily sweet that she can't really get enough of, so she fists her hands in his T-shirt, pulling him as close as she can. The second his lips part, she slips her tongue in his mouth and the choked sound that escapes his throat makes her heart hammer wildly in her chest. 

All the pent-up longing and frustration are poured into this one kiss and it's so indescribably amazing that Nile really doesn't want it to end, bunching his T-shirt tighter in her hands. They do have to come up for air at some point, so she pulls back a bit, only to be met by a weak sound of protest and Booker's mouth capturing hers again. She's beginning to feel light-headed and she can hear laughter and catcalls in the background, but Booker is unrelenting and if he keeps going like this, she won't be able to keep her hands to herself for much longer.

Therefore, as much as it pains her to do this, she splays her hands on his chest and pushes slightly. Booker pulls back just enough to let her catch her breath, his own coming out in short bursts and fanning against her mouth. His lips are red and swollen and there's a dazzled look in his eyes that makes the butterflies in her stomach flutter violently.

'I love you,' he whispers and oxygen be damned, she stands on her tiptoes and kisses him hotly once again, fingers tangled in his hair.

Booker's hands drop from her face and come to encircle her waist, pulling her flush against his chest. This isn't kissing anymore, this is a full-on make-out session, so Nile is not really surprised that the rest of the guys are starting to lose their patience.

'We know it's been a long time coming, but we do value our sanity,' Andy says dryly. 'Feel free to take a break any time soon.'

'Or get a room,' Joe adds, thoroughly amused.

'Good idea,' Booker pants against her mouth, grabbing the back of her thighs and lifting her easily.

Nile giggles and wraps her legs around his waist, fleetingly wondering which room he'll choose.

'I love you too,' she whispers in his ear as he's exiting the kitchen.

'Hey, what about the game?' Joe asks.

'I'm donating everything I have to the Bank,' Booker calls over his shoulder. 'Have fun!'

**Author's Note:**

> You can also find me on [Tumblr](https://energievie.tumblr.com/) in case you wanna say hi 😁💜


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